Water-wheel



(No Model.)

W. G. DODD.

WATER WHEEL.

No. 401,484. Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIS G. DODD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

WATER-WH EEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,484, dated April 16, 1889.

Application filed July 28, 1888. Serial No. 281,326. (No model.) 1

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, lVILLIs G. DODD, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Water-Wheels; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of waterwheels in which bucket-s placed upon the rim of the wheel receive the impact of a stream of water discharged under head or pressure from a nozzle, said wheels being known by the name of hurdy-gurdy; and my invention consists in the constructions and combinations of devices which I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invention, Figure 1 is aperspective View of one of my buckets. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my wheel with buckets attached. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of same.

The bucket A is formed with two pockets, a, side by side, and divided by a wall, at. These pockets are hemispherical, their concave faces being as perfectly of this shape as a small cutting away at a of the ends of the edge of the division-wall will permit, this cutting away being to prevent a flat surface at the ends of the said wall. Their convex backs are also as near hemispherical as their connection and the formation of the securing-flange B will allow. The intention is to make the concave faces of the pockets as nearly hemispherical as possible, and they are so through out the greater portion of their area.

0 is the whee1-shaft.

D is the hub of the wheel, having a flange, a.

E E are the two annular disks, which are riveted at c to the hub-flange (1. Between these spaced or separated disks, at their outer edges, are riveted at Z), the flanges B of the buckets A, being set in directly against and abutting on each other and forming, practi cally, a continuous solid ring, which effectually prevents any bucket from working loose. The faces of the disks are solid, as shown in Fig. 2.

F is the nozzle through which the stream of water under head or pressure passes and by which it is directed against the buckets. The stream strikes the edge of the division-wall a, and, splitting after impact, enters the hemispherical pockets, and the Water is then discharged over the edges of said pockets.

It is of prime importance in this class of wheels that a perfect discharge of the water be had, no matter in what position the bucket may be. In the buckets now in use there is some one point where the water reacts upon itself. WVhere the impact surface is a flat one, this f'point is directly at the moment of impact. Where the surface is an inclined one, the water is directed against some other portion of the bucket and splashers. In either case dragging is the result, the splash interfering with the back of the sue ceeding bucket. The face of the bucket must be curved in every direction, and I have found by experiment that the curve must be equal in all directions. This can only be obtained by a perfect hemispherical bucket, which provides for a perfect discharge of the water in any and all directions, no matter in what position or at what inclination. the bucketmay be. This avoids splashing and consequent dragging.

As a double bucket wit-h a stream-splitter has been. found to possess advantages over a single bucket, I have constructed my bucket with the hemispherical pockets side by side with the divisional wall for the purpose of re ceiving the impact and splitting the stream.

I am aware of the scoop-shaped buckets in this class of water-whee1s and of the buckets having partially-curved and partiallyfiat faces and of the buckets havinga curve in one direction. I am also Well aware of the bucket having a prow shaped impact front, curving the water to each side, and especially am I aware of the double bucket having a division-wa1l with a pocket on each side; but none of these involves the feature of my invention. The flat impact surfaces obviously cannot have the same mode of operation, for the water reacts on itself at the moment of impact. The scoop-shaped and other partiallycurved buckets do not discharge their water in all directions at all times equally. The

prow-shaped bucket and the double split buckets are both bounded by straight inclined. surfaces, and the water is directed on reaction against these surfaces and splashes.

I do not claim herein a double bucket with splitting wall; but I do claim an improved shape in this sub-class.

The construction of the body of my wheel as shown, with the solid disks and the buckets secured between their edges, obviates all the difficulty known as fanning. No currents of air are created to retard the motion of the wheel. The shape of the buckets assists in this result, for their form is such as to offer but slight resistance to the air. The wheel is strong, light, perfectly balanced, and the buckets are secured to the best advantage, which is a matter of great importance when wheels are used under high heads of water.

Having thus described my inven tion what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A water-wheel consisting of the combination of a hub having a central encircling flange, annular separated disks secured to the flange of the hub, and buckets formed with two pockets side by side, having hemispheri cally-concaved faces separated. by a central division-wall for receiving and splitting the stream, said buckets having flanges secured between the outer edges of the disks, substantially as described.

2. A water-wheel consisting of the combination of a hub having a central encircling flange, annular separated disks secured to the flange of the hub, and buckets having flanges secured between the outer edges of the disks, substantially as herein described.

A water-wheel consisting of the combination of a hub having a central encircling flange, annular separated disks secured to the flange of the hub, and buckets with flanges seated and secured between the outer edges of the disks, said flanges abutting against each other and forming a continuous ring, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

XVILLIS G. DODD.

\Vitnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, II. 0. LEE. 

